India and Japan: India signed a historic civilian nuclear deal with Japan during the annual bilateral summit held in Tokyo.

India is the first non-member of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) to have signed such a deal with Japan.

The deal includes the option that Japan can give a year’s notice before terminating it in case India breaks the nuclear testing moratorium that it had extended to the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008.

The deal is significant as it will help guarantee Japan’s continued support to India’s civil nuclear programme.

The deal will bring Japan into the Indian nuclear market where France and Russia have already have a strong presence.

According to the report, India and Japan are also likely to agree that if New Delhi conducts a nuclear test, the bilateral cooperation will stop.

There was political resistance in Japan — the only country to suffer atomic bombings during World War II — against a nuclear deal with India, particularly after the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.

Background:

The nuclear deal which will help India access Japan’s nuclear market, had been under negotiation for six years and was firmed up during the 2015 visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India when the principles of the agreement were frozen.

However, the final seal on the text had to wait legislative clearance from Japan, which has 13 civil nuclear agreements with countries such as France and the U.S.

The completion of the nuclear deal comes as the NSG is meeting in Vienna to discuss, among other issues, if non-NPT (nuclear non-proliferation Treaty) countries like India can enter this exclusive grouping. The India-Japan deal, will have an impact.

Pragati Maidan by National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) under scheme “USTTAD” (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) of Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Hunar Haat” (Skill Haat) exhibition is aimed at promoting and supporting artisans from Minority communities and providing them domestic as well as international market for display and sell their products.

This will provide an excellent platform to artisans belonging to Minority communities from across the nation to display their art and skills before the domestic and international visitors.

USTTAD scheme aims at preserving and promoting the rich heritage of the traditional arts and crafts of the Minority communities.

These crafts have gradually lost their employability in the light of globalisation and competitive market. This has demotivated the younger generation including the wards of master craft persons to look for different avenues for livelihood.

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3.NSDA Signs MoU with British Council to Collaborate for Joint Research in Skills Sector

Source: PIB

National Skill Development Agency and The British Council signed a MoU today at NSDA’s office to collaborate for undertaking joint research projects in the area of skill development.

This collaboration comes as a part of strengthening the overall research mechanism in skill development space and to encourage research collaborations with various national and international organizations.

Under this partnership, will work closely with each other to build research collaborations between the UK and India over a period of three years in the skilling domain.

The topic for the joint research study in first year of collaboration is “Future Skills” that will focus on, understanding labour market trends and identifying future employment in India in selected manufacturing and service sectors in view of changing technology.

National Skill Development Agency- Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Government of India

The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), an autonomous body, (registered as a Society under the Society’s Registration Act 1860) was created with the mandate to co-ordinate and harmonise the skill development activities in the country, is part of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

The NSDA will discharge the following functions

Take all possible steps to meet skilling targets as envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan and beyond.

Coordinate and harmonize the approach to skill development among various Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, the NSDC and the private sector.

The nodal agency for State Skill Development Missions.

Raise extra-budgetary resources for skill development from various sources such as international agencies, including multi-lateral agencies, and the private sector

Take affirmative action for advocacy.

Ensure that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and the marginalized groups like SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, women and differently abled persons are taken care of.

Take affirmative action for advocacy.

The NSDA’s role is also to anchor the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) and facilitate the setting up of professional certifying bodies in addition to the existing ones.

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4.Centre unveils steps to boost cybersecurity

Source: The Hindu

In an attempt to strengthen cyber security in India, the government announced a slew of measures, including that all organisations having a significant IT infrastructure will need to appoint cyber security officers.

State Certs are being planned by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and Jharkhand. Also, three sectoral Certs in power sector — generation, transmission and distribution, have been set up, in addition to the banking one.

National cyber coordination center is being set up to provide near real time situational awareness and rapid response at a cost of Rs 985 crore.

This project will be completed in 5 years. “The Phase 1 is ready to be tendered and expected to be operational by March 2017. While a Botnet Center will be launched shortly.

Regarding CERT-In:

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is the Government organisation under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

It is a nodal agency that deals with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens security-related defence of the Indian Internet domain.

CERT-In (the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is a government-mandated information technology (IT) security organization. The purpose of CERT-In is to respond to computer security incidents, report on vulnerabilities and promote effective IT security practices throughout the country.

CERT-In was created by the Indian Department of Information Technology in 2004 and operates under the auspices of that department. According to the provisions of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, CERT-In is responsible for overseeing administration of the Act.

The first CERT group was formed in the United States at Carnegie Mellon University.

MoU: between India and UK:

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in May, 2016 between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Ministry of Cabinet Office, UK.

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